Developers of two neighbouring projects that contain two former landfills in St. Albert's northwest corner won't have to clean up the dumps before being proceeding with land-use changes.
City council gave the green light to allow the proponents of Avenir and St. Albert Sports City to pursue changes to the city's municipal development plan (MDP). The Monday decision came despite the fact there are unresolved issues around the developers' desire to build homes next to one of the landfills. They want an environmental setback reduced from 300 metres to zero.
Council addressed the issue by passing three separate motions.
The first directs administration to continue working with the proponents "to clearly define the risks to future development from the former landfills."
The second directs the city manager to pursue a landfill variance from Alberta Environment once one of the landfills has been properly closed. If successful, this would allow development adjacent to the pit rather than 300 metres away. The developer plans to clean up the pit, before turning it into a stormwater management pond and building homes adjacent to it.
The third motion directs administration to accept and process the proponents' MDP amendment proposals.
Taken together, the decisions mean land designation and reclamation efforts can unfold simultaneously rather than one after the other.
"They protect the interests of the city while still allowing the process to move forward," said Mayor Nolan Crouse.
Avenir proponent David Bromley was happy.
"I think it's great," he said. "It allows us to finally get this project off the ground."
Two landfills
The land in question lies west of North Ridge and contains two pits that are former landfills. One of these — referred to as pit one — was in use from about 1991 to 1996, states a city background report. Pit two saw use for less than a year in 1996. Both pits were licensed only for dry waste but inspections indicated numerous infractions for accepting commercial, industrial, municipal and medical waste.
The violations led to formal charges, a fine and an order to reclaim both pits. Provincial records don't show whether both landfills were reclaimed or closed properly, the report says.
The MDP defines the land as a future study area, meaning they have no official land-use designation. Past councils have associated study areas with potential industrial development.
The land owned by Avenir is proposed to contain residential development while the project being pitched by St. Albert Sports Village would combine sports complexes with residential, commercial and industrial development.
The backgrounder prepared by administration suggested the MDP process should not proceed until the landfills are properly closed, a process estimated to require six to 12 months.
At Monday's meeting, environmental manager Leah Jackson said the history of the landfills and a lack of information about their closure are questions that need to be answered to protect the city's interests.
"Until we get that information I wouldn't be comfortable with any development," she said.
She noted that, even if the province grants a variance, the city would be legally liable if it allowed development and contamination was discovered in the future.
Numerous monitoring wells have shown normal soil and groundwater conditions in the area, said Bromley. The development proponents hired consulting firm MMM Group Ltd. to do a landfill investigation.
Pit two contains construction waste like concrete, drywall and wood, he said, and feedback from Alberta Environment over the weekend suggests that simply hauling the waste away will make the site safe for residential development.
In addressing council, Bromley was obviously frustrated at the length of time it's taking to work through the process.
"We are not in a position to keep going for more months," he said. "We need a clear decision as to moving this project forward."
Coun. Cam MacKay didn't see the risk in that.
"This is a good opportunity to have a developer that's going to come to town and actually take waste out of the site and give us one less landfill in the city," he said.
